Site Philosophy

BuyFromTheFarm.ca is an interactive site designed to provide the best information possible to the consumer seeking to buy local produce and other products directly from the farm, or to support other local businesses who do so. We are an information link in the marketing channel.

To this end we have several principles we try to maintain in the design of our site:

Accuracy of Information

• To prevent the posting of erroneous information, all users MUST register with a valid email account before they are allowed to post.
• Users are able to keep their own information up to date, and are able to let us know through our contact form if there is anything which should be changed.
• Critical input forms are protected with a turing engine called CAPTCHA. This ensures that the information we receive comes from a human sitting at a keyboard, not an automated system trying to send spam.

Easy Access to Information

• BuyFromTheFarm.ca is searchable by keyword, and is re-indexed hourly.
• Our information is presented as lists, with flexible sorting and the user is able to refine the lists using a preset classification system.

National Scope

• Listings may be refined by Province, where applicable, or users may seek products in any Province.
• BuyFromTheFarm.ca is designed to support both offical languages. (Please note that french translations are in process.) Please submit your posts in either language, or both if you are able.

No Exclusions

• We will not exclude listings because of membership or lack of mambership in any organization.
• BuyFromTheFarm.ca will include any subject which has pertinence to our central tenet of promoting local consumption of local production. If there is even a hint that it may be considered Canadian Agriculture, or may have an impact thereon, we will include it.

Standardized Format

• A common look and feel lets the user understand the displayed information quickly, and allows BuyFromTheFarm.ca to include more information in each page without overwhelming the user.
• Mapping is included by default to make locations easier to find. We feel this is a requirement for rural addresses.
• Listings are not limited to any size, although we recommend that listings be kept under 2,000 words.
• All listings may be enhanced with a photograph or graphic. BuyFromTheFarm.ca limits this to a single upload, respecting users with slower internet connections.

Encourage Feedback

• BuyFromTheFarm.ca has established a five star rating system. Users may rate each listing. The average voting is displayed for each listing, and will give future users some idea of what their predecessors think.
• The rating system encourages our listing partners to make the effort to maintain good customer relations.
• Each user may leave comments for others to read. These comments are moderated. Positive comments are posted. Negative comments are sent to the listing partner.

Communication

• BuyFromTheFarm.ca does not publish email addresses! Each user has a personal contact form which the public may use to send them a private message or question.
• If BuyFromTheFarm.ca has an email address for a Farmers Market listing, an Email Contact Form will be available for that Market.
• A site-wide contact form is available using the far right menu link in the top navigation bar. This may be used by anyone to send us a message.

Encourage Use

• BuyFromTheFarm.ca offers free listings for community events.
• BuyFromTheFarm.ca welcomes recipes and other submissions from users.
• BuyFromTheFarm.ca will be featuring articles pertinent to local produce, agro-tourism, CSA, and the 100-Mile Diet.
• Those users who are able may use the RSS Feed using the logo at the bottom of the page.